The Movie:

While Smart People didn’t exactly boast the most intelligible marks from critics, nor did the star-studded cast manage to muster up more than an average box-office, the new dramady from first time director Noam Murro is surprisingly delightful. Starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page audiences will be hard pressed not to give Smart People a run-through on home video.

Widowed English professor Lawrence Whetherhold (Dennis Quaid) has seemingly lost the ability for compassion. The self-indulgent scholar seemingly only cares about publishers and becoming head of the department. When a beautiful doctor (Sarah Jessica Parker) enters his life and his adopted brother (Thomas Hayden Church) makes an unexpected appearance, Larry’s routine world is turned upside-down. Will these newcomers be enough to help Larry turn himself around before his daughter (Ellen Page) follows in his dreary footsteps?

Featuring fantastic writing and performances, Smart People is a fun intellectual jaunt, that will have you consistently chucking the whole way through. Quaid, who is usually reserved for all around good guy roles, is delectably fun as the self-destructive, pompous Lawrence Whetherhold. However the one fault ailing Smart People is just how much of a bully director Noam Murro makes the central character. Larry’s shtick gets pretty tiring, as we wait for the character to make the inevitable revelation that we all know he will.

Luckily that’s why the fantastic and unique subplot between Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page help keep the picture interesting. While Quaid’s character routinely angers everyone around him, the duo of Church and Page keep things lively. The quirky relationship between uncle and niece also turns humorously awkward when Page’s character develops a bit of a crush on her adopted uncle.

7/10

Special Features:

While the DVD does a cutesy job of trying to mask its standard array of special features by giving names like “The Smartest People” to the cast and crew interviews or “Not So Smart” to outtakes, its very easy to see through this average Miramax offering. By far the most interesting feature is the premiere of the film at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and that isn't saying much. If it weren’t for the free tickets to Miramax’s next big flick, Blindness, the new film from City of God director Fernando Meirelles, the disc might not be worth purchasing at all.

BluRay Exclusive:

Continuing the average handling that started with the DVD, Miramax didn’t go out of its way to include any additional content for the BluRay edition of Smart People. While the HD transfer certainly exceeds its standard definition predecessor, evening out some of the visuals, the studio didn’t try to hide the fact that this release is meant to collect revenue from rentals.

4/10

Overall:

An enjoyable experience, Smart People is certainly intelligent entertainment that should peak audiences looking for a splash of something unique. However both the DVD and BluRay release of the film were designed to be rented, and before taking the twenty to thirty dollar plunge on this disc, that is exactly what you should do.

-Joe Russo